Make A Child Smile

RJ's Story
written by mom Cheryll

Every child is a blessing from God. We were so happy when we found out that we were pregnant with our second child! RJ was born on May 6, 2003 and weighed 8 lbs 4.5 oz. What a healthy boy, that’s what we thought!!!

Just 3 days after he was discharged, we went to see his doctor for a check-up. Blood test was done and showed that he had jaundice (yellow color of the skin). He had to stay at the hospital for phototherapy for a couple more days. On his physical examination, the doctor noticed that he only had one testicle, but he said not to worry, because the other one was supposed to go down within a year after birth. But on his first year well baby check, it was not down yet so a consultation with a pediatric urologist was done. Ultrasound was ordered but the doctor couldn’t find any testicle in the groin area. RJ was then scheduled for a surgery when he was only 1 year old but unluckily, there was no testicle that was formed. The doctor assured us that the one that he has is normal, so we don’t have to worry. Everything went well after this and he would seldom go to his doctor for any illness.

RJ is a typical kid who loves to play ball games with his big brother. He started going to preschool shortly after his 4th birthday. He is definitely a sweet boy that every time somebody passes by our house, he would say hi to anybody!

A few weeks after I gave birth to our third child, mid October 2007, everything changed. RJ had been complaining on and off of stomach pain. I was thinking that he only wanted attention from me since I just had a baby, and I didn't really give him much attention. So every time he told me that his tummy hurt, we massaged it or sometimes put a hot compress, and his pain would be relieved. This didn’t make me worry because he would be fine after that. He was still active, running or jumping around. But there was one time that he vomited once at night, so we took him to his doctor the following day and he was diagnosed with Gastritis. The doctor just advised us to give him Mylanta as needed. He was still going to school because he was not really complaining of any pain or discomfort.

About 2 weeks later, my husband noticed that his tummy was getting bigger, so we took him again to his doctor. And as usual, he was still diagnosed with Gastritis. Only 5 days prior to that, we brought him to the emergency room where they did an x-ray, urine and blood tests... all with normal results.

He wasn't really getting well, so we decided to bring him to the emergency room on the night of November 14, 2007 because he vomited after coming home from preschool. The night before we took him to the emergency room, he asked me to give him his Mylanta. He didn’t really like us to bring him to the ER, because he knew that he would get poked, but we told him that we would just go there for a second opinion.

On examination, the doctor palpated a lump on his left side and his tummy was really huge. She then decided to do CT scan. He drank the contrast so fast and did the test well. He had a poke before going for the CT scan because IV contrast needed to be injected into him. After a couple of hours patiently waiting for the results, the doctor came and told us what was wrong. This was the worst news we ever heard… she said "Your child might have a Lymphoma and he needs to be admitted now for further tests and evaluation". She called the Oncology team that night before my son was transferred to the oncology unit.

On November 15, 2007 he was scheduled for a spinal tap, and thank goodness there was no involvement with the spine yet. A bone marrow aspiration was also done with no cancer cells found. On November 16, 2007, a laparoscopic biopsy was done confirming that my son has a cancer named Burkitt's Lymphoma, and the worst thing that happened to him was when the doctor accidentally perforated his intestine the time he did the biopsy. Another nightmare for me and my family. He had emergency surgery the following day because his waste spilled inside his stomach which made him really sick. The doctor had to repair the perforated intestine and put a temporary hole on my son’s stomach for his waste to come out. He had to stay in the PICU for a week.

RJ started his chemotherapy treatment shortly after he recovered from his surgery. Now he’s on his fourth round of chemotherapy. I know that God does not give us trials that we cannot handle. In God’s own time, RJ can get through this because nothing is impossible with God as long as we keep trusting Him. I miss seeing those sweet smiles on his face. His thick hair and long eyelashes. He has gone through a lot, a rough ride on a bumpy road but I keep my faith in God that He will surely heal him so that we can see him back to a normal and active kid as he used to be.

For him to be featured on MACS... this is the best thing that could happen to him, to put a sweet smile back on his face once again . Thank you very much.

(Story and Interests were last updated March, 2008)